Refugees deal with war, cold in Kosovo

LAPASTICA, Yugoslavia (AP) - Hundreds of refugees fleeing fighting in northern Kosovo crowded into a rebel stronghold Saturday and rummaged for firewood to help get through another subfreezing night.

Most of the refugees in the area west of Podujevo made their way by foot to Lapastica, a village still held by the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army after a two-day crackdown by Serb police and Yugoslav army units.

The rebels want independence for Kosovo, a province of Serbia, the dominant republic in Yugoslavia. Ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent of the province's population.

In a typical scene in Lapastica, one room sheltered more than 60 refugees.

One 7-year-old boy, identified only as Agron, couldn't speak a word, his teeth chattering after hours walking in the cold.

His father lamented the family's situation.

"It's a shame that we have to beg for food and beds," said the man, who refused to give his name. The only warm member of the family of four appeared to be the youngest, a 3month old girl bundled in wool and asleep in a wooden cradle carried by her father.

Others in and near Lapastica combed the surroundings in the winter sun for firewood.

Several villages in the region were destroyed in two days of fierce fighting that threatened to unravel an already shaky truce reached Oct. 12.

The province was reported to be largely calm Saturday, but a Serb farmer was killed west of Podujevo by the KLA, according to international peace monitors. Ethnic Albanian sources reported a police attack in the same region.

The farmer was killed by the KLA in his home in Obranca, 20 miles north of the province's capital Pristina. The rebel force controls much of the area.

The Kosovo Information Center, close to ethnic Albanian pro-independence leaders, said that shortly before noon, Serb police approached Obranca and opened fire on nearby KLA positions.

The reports came after Serb and Yugoslav forces launched an offensive in the region Thursday, reportedly killing at least nine people. The crackdown posed the gravest threat yet to the agreement that halted months of violence between Serbs and guerrillas trying to gain Kosovo's independence.

William Walker, head of an international force monitoring the Kosovo situation, said the newest fighting had led to the "tensest period since the agreement was signed."

The United States, France and the European Union have warned both sides not to continue the violence.

In October, NATO threatened air strikes against the Serbs as punishment for their crackdown that began in February.

During the crackdown, hundreds died and 300,000 were forced to flee their homes.

The NATO attacks were put on hold after a cease-fire was reached and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic pulled out some of his forces.

In Belgrade, meanwhile, Milosevic consolidated his support among the military by appointing loyalists to senior positions and promoting others involved in the Yugoslav army's campaign in Kosovo.

The daily Politika said Lt. Gen. Spasoje Smiljanic was appointed commander of the air force, a position that had been vacated in October when the former air force chief was removed. He also promoted seven army generals and made other moves.

Milosevic also relieved three high-ranking army officers of their duties but it was not immediately clear whether they were purged for suspected disloyalty.

Another loyalist was appointed new commander in the region of Pristina.